Billiards Season 2024

Away Team Report:
I said in my report last week how important the draw is going to be over these last few matches, and it appeared my worst fears were about to be realised when the draw was made here tonight. Oatlands Park revisited! So I must give massive, massive credit to Steve Dale for pulling off a great win against a very much in form Andrew Veness. That win and Lol’s battling 2nd point against an inspired Mark Flatt have kept us in the hunt. Steve got off to a great start reaching 50 whilst Andrew was still in single figures. But then Andrew started to get into his stride and gradually reeled Steve in catching him in the 90’s and then pulling away with an excellent run of 27. However, Steve was in no mood to let the frame go without a fight and cueing superbly well under pressure (apart from that “Polly Ping” on 146) pulled off a couple of really nice breaks in the teens to capture an invaluable win. Over the last few matches Steve’s form has improved considerably, with him seemingly producing best of the season performances every week (Touch wood). Long may it continue. In frame 2 Lol played very well but Mark was potting everything. If he missed one I must have been outside smoking because I never saw it. Lol almost kept pace until the 80’s when Mark produced back to back runs of about 20 to pull out a good lead. Lol worked extremely hard to get his 2nd point and almost gave himself a chance of winning when an unlucky “line-up” stopped him in his tracks. He then missed a difficult pot red leaving Mark with an easy opportunity to wrap up a deserved victory and a complete reversal of their result at New Haw. In the final frame I played some of my best billiards of the season and found 2 very nice breaks, with only a heavy contact on a cannon possibly stopping my 42 being considerably more substantial. A comfortable victory for me completed an excellent 9-5 win against an in form team. It’s still going down to the wire with some potential banana skins for all 4 teams in the hunt. How important is the draw going to be in the Staines vs Woking B match? This really is the most exciting season for years and could even end up in a playoff. Good luck to all.